HAMPTON, Va.—The first round of the inaugural Nike Girl’s Elite Youth Basketball league is in the book and the stage is set for some interesting drama when the second round tips off in July. Five teams survived the first weekend unscathed while four others headed home with just one loss in the opening set of five games. Unfortunately for four others the road was all uphill as they head back to work in search for a solution for a winless effort in Hampton.
Cy-Fair, the Georgia Pistols, Fairfax Stars, Minnesota North Tartan and Texas United laid claim to 5 and 0 starts. Boo Williams, the Cal Stars and the Spiece Gym Rats all made it through with just one loss. On the other end of things the Albany City Rocks, New England Crusaders, Georgia Metros and Essence each left town without a check in the win column.
The second round of EYBL competition will be in July with half the teams heading to Chicago and the other half to Franklin, Tennessee. Only 24 of the 32 clubs will earn an invitation to Nike Nationals with the bids going to the top six finishers in each of the four divisions. For more information on the Nike EYBL follow the link below.
Cy-Fair set the pace in scoring at 73.6 points per game while six others averaged in the 60’s. The Georgia Pistols shot it the best connecting on 47 percent as a team however less than half of the teams could get their team percentage over the 40 percent standard. North Tartan and Spiece were impressive from three point range with North Tartan going 32 of 62 to set the pace followed by the Gym Rats 29 for 60 effort. All Iowa put up the most long balls at 119 but shot just 28 percent in five games. Despite being winless, the Albany City Rocks led the free throw category but attempted less than 10 per game. Only six teams shot over 70 percent from the line in the opening round. Five teams with a combined record of 21 – 4 averaged double figure assists for the weekend with Cy-Fair on top at 14.4 each game.
On the Boards it was the Gauchos leading the way pulling 42.2 per game with Fairfax just behind at 41.4. On the defensive end three teams averaged double figure steals each time out. The Carolina Flames led forcing 12.6 a game while the Philadelphia Belles grabbed 11.8 and Boo Williams stole 10.8 each time out. The Fairfax Stars capitalized on their defense to go undefeated while holding their opponents to just 27.9 percent from the floor. In turn they allowed only 40.2 points per game and were joined six others keeping their opposition under 50 over the course of the first round.
Individually, three players averaged over 20 per game. Marina Mabrey of Exodus/Epiphanny Prince put up 23.6 while Kelly Koshuta of Fairfax averaged 21.6 and Jessica Shepard of All Iowa racked up 21.4 each time out. The field goal percentage category wasn’t defined by a minimum number of attempts but worth noting is the 30 for 45 effort of the Midwest Elite’s Tori McCoy which translates to an impressive 66.7 percent. Destinee Walker of the Central Florida Elite connected on the most threes at an impressive 50 percent bringing home 20 of her 40 attempts. Again, from three there was no minimum attempts for three point percentage but highlighted efforts came from Gym Rat teammates Tiarra Murphy (9 for 12 – 75%) and Darby Maggard (10 of 14 – 71.4%).
On the boards Beatrice Mompremier of the Miami Suns set the standard at 11. 6 per game followed by the Gaucho’s Brianna Fraser at 10.6. They were they only two to averaged double figure rebounds. Mompremier also was a force defensively leading all defenders with 2.8 blocks per game. Taylor Murray of the Philadelphia Belles grabbed more steals than the rest of the crowd averaging 5.2 each time out. Mikayla Boykin of the Carolina Flames followed at 4.2. Sabrina Ionescu of the Cal Stars led the assist category with a 6.2 average followed closely by Marta Sniezak of the Fairfax Stars at 6.0.
Albany City Rocks 0 – 5
Lost all five games by an average of 13 points
All Iowa Attack 3 – 2
All – Ohio 1 – 4
Lost four in a row after opening overtime win. Standout Tierra Floyd was injured in that opening game.
Boo Williams 4 – 1
Only loss was to the Miami Suns
Cal Sparks 2 – 3
Cal Stars 4 – 1
Won four in a row after opening loss to Cy-Fair
Cal Storm Team Taurasi 2 – 3
Cal Swish 2 – 3
Won their first two but dropped the next three all by double figures
Carolina Flames 3 – 2
Won three in a row after dropping their first two
Central Florida Elite 3 – 2
Won first three then dropped back to back overtime games
Cy-Fair Team Ogwumike 5 – 0
All wins were double figure margins except their four point battle with the Metros
DFW T-Jack 2 – 3
Won their last two games of the weekend
Essence 0 – 5
Competitive losing by an average margin of just eight points per game
Exodus / Epiphanny Prince Elite 1 – 4
Only win was a two point victory over Essence
Fairfax Stars 5 – 0
Won all five by a average margin of 12 points a game
Georgia Metros 0 – 5
Tough outing losing by an average of 18.8 points per game
Georgia Pistols 5 – 0
All wins were double figure margins except an overtime win over the Tennessee Flight
Indy Lady Gym Rats 4 – 1
Only loss came to North Tartan by two
Kentucky Premier 2 – 3
Miami Suns 3 – 2
Lost opening and last games of the weekend
Michigan Crossover 2 – 3
Won last two games
Midwest Elite 2 – 3
Won opening two games before dropping three in a row
Minnesota North Tartan 5 – 0
Included one point win over the Gym Rats and a six point overtime win over Central Florida
New England Crusaders 0 – 5
Average margin over five losses was 16.2
New Jersey Sparks 3 – 2
New York Lady Choz 2 – 3
Philadelphia Belles 2 – 3
Team Takeover 2 – 3
Tennessee Flight 3 – 2
Lost opener by two and last game by just three in overtime
Texas United 5 – 0
Average margin of victory was 9.6 points per game
Tree of Hope 2 – 3
West Coast Premier 1 – 4
Won their last game
